Long, bead or pearl loop-type necklaces have been, and continue to be, one of the most popular jewelry items in the world of fashion and in the jewelry collections of most women. These necklaces, however, are not always the appropriate jewelry accessory for all occasions, clothing ensembles or necklines. Acquiring multiple necklaces including long and short, twisted and straight varieties is often economically impractical. It is, therefore, desirable to have some way of modifying long necklace lengths, and/or their appearance. It is also desirable to facilitate combining such necklaces and without permanently altering one or more of them. With this capability, women could easily transform one or combinations of these necklaces into chokers or draped collars, with twisted or straight appearances, as the need arises, thereby increasing the necklaces' versatility and usability. It would also provide women with various length options and color and bead combinations that could only be achieved by their buying a considerable number of separate necklaces to suit a range of occasions and practically every article of clothing in their wardrobes.
Known devices for shortening and/or fastening necklaces have concentrated on mechanical fastening mechanisms or clasps comprised of movable arms, joints and hinges. These devices tend to either break or fatigue from use or otherwise fray or tear bead stringing or knotting elements of the necklace. In addition, devices of this sort have, for the most part, been necklace-specific, requiring beads of particular sizes for proper operation. Where such fasteners are tried with other necklace bead sizes, the fasteners invariably are too small to accommodate one or more necklaces. Such mechanisms also tend to be unwieldy and difficult to manipulate including placement of the beads and opening and closing of the fastener. These difficulties are further exacerbated if the user has long fingernails.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have a necklace fastener and shortener which could accommodate a variety of bead sizes and necklace combinations while being constructed for simple, straight-forward fastening and shortening. It would also be desirable to have a fastener and shortener which is inexpensive and which does not harm the necklace beads or interconnecting material.